We all have worked with almost a dozen high-growth freelance workers and world-class experts since we started freelancing just over a year ago. But, we have never had to bargain for the high fees we demand for our services. We have a 3–6 month waiting list for potential freelance customers, thanks to our success in identifying our value propositions, branding ourselves as an authority in our industry, and putting our content in front of new target markets.

That, though, did not happen overnight. Our rapid freelance growth in the freelancing community culminated in a great deal of careful positioning, long hours of hard work, and good timing. 

Here are the top three steps to get better freelancer income during the first year of freelancing if you are about to get serious about freelancing and multiplying your self-employed profits.

Step – 1: Pick A Niche And Define Your Service Offerings

Since you are adjusting to freelance work, you may be tempted to accept some paying job that comes your way. However, as your freelancing career progresses, you will need to become more selective with the kinds of work you do and the clients you accept. We all know specializing makes you an expert in a particular area. Experts will charge extra for their specialized services.

If you are starting as a web developer, you might specialize in something like blog migration to WordPress. That means you will be found if anyone looks for “help to migrate a blog to WordPress.” If you pick the right niche, choosing to specialize and putting in the work to establish yourself as an authority in that niche will pay off for years to come. You do and do not make an extensive choice you will have to make early on in your freelance career.

It is best that you can be as precise as possible about the programs you have. It will not only assist you in branding yourself. However, it will also enable you to monitor how prospective clients view you and allow you to continue developing your portfolio in the way you want. You should not even accept contract deals for customizing WordPress themes or developing the user interface for an upcoming app if you want to concentrate on being a sought-after, well-paid Ruby on Rails artist. 

Although the short-term rewards of consistent work sound appealing (and often necessary), taking on tasks that do not help you get closer to your end objective of being the best in your profession can only serve to divert your attention and hinder your success.

Step – 2: Create A High-Quality Portfolio And Decide On Your Pricing

While choosing how much to ask for your freelance work is an essential step in determining your perceived worth, you still need to make sure you are charged enough to live comfortably. Most customers would gladly pay a premium cost for a freelancer who makes a great first impression and convinces them that they will achieve high-quality results. In case you’re wondering how to write an impressive research design, we might have something useful for you to go through.

We have no problem setting and retaining high rates for the services we provide as long as we manage to provide consistent value to our customers (beyond their expectations). Remember the actual benefit you would be building for your future customers to make sure you are not leaving money on the table before setting the rates at the absolute minimum you need to charge to meet your financial needs. You can still raise your prices in the future and hope your customer remains on board. However, if you launch at a price point you are already enthusiastic about, you will be far more likely to over-deliver and continue to add value in the future.

Making your incredible portfolio platform is one of the most accessible places to show your technological skills. You will need a website that: Showcases your skills if you would like to be respected as a new freelancer. The essential requirements are mentioned as:

  • It reveals who you are.
  • Have your contact address so new customers can reach you quickly.
  • Plus, if you do not have a lot of work experience to show that you know what you are doing, a strong portfolio will help you out.

Your portfolio aims to train, pique potential clients’ attention, and persuade them to hire you for their professional needs. That is why, before you start searching for new ideas, you can spend some time choosing what to have in your portfolio and how it will be displayed. Start adding a connection to your portfolio site in your email signature and on your social profiles until it is up and running.

Step – 3: Improve Your Pitching Skills And Increase Your Credibility

Pitching your freelance services to new customers is both an art and a study. Since writing lucrative freelance proposals is such a vital part of running a successful freelance company, we built an entire online course on the subject. We even gave away our free freelance proposal template. It is not just a case of writing a killer freelance plan to get new clients. Your progress is determined by how well you do in your new careers, how well you put your value propositions, and how much testing you do beforehand. Are you looking for 5 ways you can improve your business, look no further?

We have landed new projects simply because we put in more time and effort to investigate the company, assess their needs, and deliver enormous upfront value in the form of informative feedback before ever discussing payment. Most of your reputation as a freelancer can be determined by the strength of your client relationships and your ability to form meaningful alliances. There are several ways to increase the industry’s reputation. 

You will start growing your exposure within your niche by writing an ebook, designing an educational course, and scheduling speaking engagements in addition to creating high-quality blog content and partnering with prominent industry influencers.
These credibility-boosters will help you build a list of milestones to use in your portfolio while still demonstrating your expertise to more prospective customers. The more people who hear your voice, the more impact you will have in your market.